Chairs for non-ambulatory persons



Nov. 9, 1965 c. R. BocKus 3,216,738

CHAIRS FOR NON-AMBULATORY PERSONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 1, 1963 V iNVENTOR CHARLES BOCKUS his ATTORNEYS NOV. 9, 1965 c, oc us 3,216,738

CHAIRS FOR NON-AMBULATORY PERSONS Filed May 1, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FrI/a n INVENTOR. CHARLES BOCKUS BY 241M4 4 z, W {(7% his ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,216,738 CHAIRS FOR NON AMBULATQRY PERSONS Charles R. Backus, 480 Riverdale Ave, Yonkers, NCY. Fiied May 1, 1963, Ser. No. 277,316 6 Claims. (Cl. 28030) This invention relates to improvements in chairs for non-ambulatory persons, and, more particularly, to a chair having a number of adjustable parts to render it more comfortable and means for conversion from a wheelchair into a comfort chair and to a seat with an upstanding post to prevent the person from sliding out of the chair.

Persons afllicted with muscular diseases such as cerebral palsy or paralyzed by injury are often confined to a wheelchair for several hours at a time because of the difficulty involved in transferring them from a wheelchair into a more comfortable chair. Such confinement compounds the discomfort of persons who may already be rendered uncomfortable or in pain by their injuries or afflictions. Additionally, the present type of conventional wheelchair is not suited for persons who are shorter or taller than average, since there is generally no way to adjust the chair size. Persons who are subject to falling off or slipping from the chair are usually retained in position on conventional chairs by means of bothersome straps which add further to their discomfort.

The present invention is directed toward overcoming these and other disadvantages of conventional wheelchairs. According to the invention, a basic chair structure consisting of a frame, sides, a seat and a back is adapted to receive either legs for use as a comfort or rest chair or a frame having wheels for use as a conventional wheelchair. The new chair also incorporates a number of adjustable features to make it more comfortable for the particular patient using it. The back of the chair is adjustable at the top and bottom thus permitting it to be moved forward or back or to be tilted at various angles. The arms may be moved up and down or tipped, and the foot rests may be adjusted to suit the patients requirements. By making the chair adjustable in these respects, not only may it be made adaptable to the particular physical characteristics of the patient, but it may also be adjusted periodically to give the patient a change of position. The chair also includes an adjustable upright post positioned on the seat in front of the crotch of the patient to prevent him from sliding off of the chair, thereby eliminating the necessity of uncomfortable straps to hold the patient in the chair.

Inasmuch as the new chair is readily convertible from a wheelchair to a comfort chair, it is unnecessary to bodily transfer the patient from the wheelchair to a separate rest chair. The chair may be converted while he remains seated thereon, thereby making it easier and safer to change him from one to the other. Additionally, the increased expense of providing separate chairs is eliminated.

The invention also contemplates providing a seat which snaps or slides on over any conventional wheelchair seat. The new seat is padded and has a channel-like bracket, for example, or other means for attaching an upright post as described above.

For a better understanding of the invention as described in more detail hereinafter, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a typical chair according to the invention showing a basic chair structure, legs and a wheeled converter frame assembled;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the chair in FIG URE l with the wheeled converter frame removed to illustrate its use as a comfort chair. An arm of the chair has been removed to clarify the drawing;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective viewof a typical wheeledconverter frame which may be adapted to the chair in FIGURE 2 for use as a wheelchair;

FIGURES 4 and 5 are perspective views of a back leg and a front leg, respectively, each of which is detach able from the basic chair structure shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a view in section taken through the cen-.

ter of the chair in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 7 is a detailed front view in section on an enlarged scale taken along the line 7-7 of FIGURE 6 and illustrating the installation of aseat with a typical upright retaining post;

FIGURES 8 and 9 are perspective views illustrating through 3, the chair includes a basic chair structure 10' having a seat 12, sides 14 and a back 16 fastened on aframe 18. The basic chair structure 10 may be used as a wheelchair by installing it on a wheeled converter frame 20, shown in FIGURE 3, or converted intoa comfort chair, as illustrated in FIGURE 2, by removing the converter frame 20 and inserting legs 22 and 24mmthe frame 18.

As best shown in FIGURES 2 and 6, the frame 18 is made of tubular material and includes a side member 26 below each side of the seat 12 joined by couplers 28 and 29 to an H-shaped member 30. The front couplers 28 are joined together by a crosspiece 31. The members 30 are curved back at the top and are provided with hand grips 32 to facilitate moving the chair. The sides 14 of the chair are fastened to the portion 34' of the mem ber 30. Arm rests 36 having suitable padding and covering 38 are adjustably attached to the sides 14 by means of brackets 49. The arm rests may be raised, lowered or tilted by loosening the thumb screws 42, sliding the brackets 40 in the retaining clips 44, and retightening the screws 42 to secure the arm rests in the new position. The back 16 of the chair is slidably attached to the frame member 30 by means of the slotted tabs 46- which are held in clamped position thereon by the thumbscrews 48;

The chair back 16 may be moved backward or forward or tilted to suit the individual patient.

Again referring to FIGURES 2 and 6, the basic chair structure 10 is adapted to receive front legs 22 and back legs 24 for conversion into a comfort chair. The legs slide into the couplers 28 and into slots in the frame members 26 which correspond to the square pins 50 (best illus-- trated in FIGURES 5 and 6) on the leg members and are secured by the thumbscrews 52. Swivel casters 54 may be provided on the legs to facilitate moving the chair.

Foot rests 55 are pivotally attached to split clamps 56 which are mounted on the front legs 22. Each foot rest 55 may be titled by loosening a thumbscrew 57 and sliding it in a slotted link 58 pivotally attached to the clamp 56 and also may be raised or lowered'on the legs by'moving the clamps 56 which have handscrews 59 for releasably locking them in place. In lieu of the foot rests 55, seat extensions of suitable types (not shown) may be installed in slots 61 provided in the front edge of the seat 12.

FIGURES 3 and 6 illustrate the wheeled converter frame 20 which is adaptable to the basic chair structure 10 to convert it into a wheelchair. The converter frame 20 comprises vertical front leg member 60, L-shaped frame members 62 attached thereto, a cross member 64 joining the members 60, and a rear axle 66. The frame rolls on swivel casters 68 mounted on the leg members 60 and large rubber wheels 70 mounted on the axle 66. The patient may roll the chair about by pushing on the hand wheels 72 attached to the wheels 70. A hand brake 74 is provided to prevent the chair from rolling when not desired.

As shown in FIGURE 6, the chair structure is installed on the converter frame by inserting the upright portions 76 of the L-shaped members 62 into the rear couplers 29 and frictionally locking the pins 78 on the portions 76 therein by means of thumbscrews 80. The front of the chair structure 10 is attached to the converter frame 20 by thumbscrews 82 inserted through the cross member 64 and screwed into tapped holes in the crosspiece 31 of the chair frame 18, as best shown in FIG- URE 7.

Illustrated in FIGURES 7-9 is a novel seat which may be used in the chair described above and is also readily adaptable to conventional wheelchairs. The seat is flat and generally rectangular and has suitable padding 86 and covering 88. The back and front of the seat are edged with narrow plates 90 to prevent damage when bumped and to retain the covering 88. The side plates 92 perform similar functions and also have opposed inwardly directed flanges 94 spaced from the bottom of the seat which, as illustrated in FIGURE 7, engage plates 96 attached along the top of the side frame members 26. The tubular side members of conventional wheelchairs may be provided with similar plates to adapt them for installation of the new seat.

On top of the seat is an upright post 98 which engages the crotch of the patient to prevent him from slipping or falling off the chair. The post 98 may be of any desired shape such as the straight tapered conical one shown in FIGURE 8 or the arching rectangular one shown in FIGURE 10. The post is centrally located laterally and arranged to be adjusted forward and back. The post 98, for example, may be attached to a generally rectangular or square plate 100 which slides in a channel member 102 attached to the seat. The plate 100 and post 98 are held in position by screws 104 inserted in tapped holes in the channel member 102. Alternatively, the post 98 could slide in a slot in the seat 84 and be held in place by thumbscrews on a threaded pin projecting through the slot.

The upper end of the post can have a hole 106 or other means for receiving supporting parts of a work table, tray or braces such as a chin rest, for example.

It will be understood that the invention is capable of being varied considerably as numerous details of construction and assembly, the shapes and sizes of its parts, and the ways of accomplishing adjustability and convertibility. Accordingly, the foregoing description should be considered illustrative, and not as limiting the following claims.

I claim:

1. A chair for non-ambulatory persons comprising a basic chair structure having a chair frame, the chair frame including a pair of spaced-apart transverse seat frame members and a pair of spaced-apart longitudinal seat frame members, the transverse and longitudinal seat frame members being joined to form a seat frame assembly, and a pair of spaced-apart generally vertical chair back support members joined to the seat frame assembly, a seat carried by the seat frame assembly, and a back mounted on the vertical support members, a pair of front leg members and a pair of back leg members, means for detachably securing the leg members to the seat frame assembly to render the basic chair structure a comfort chair, a wheeled converter frame including a pair of spaced-apart front vertical members, caster wheels carried by the front members, a transverse member extending between the vertical members, a pair of spacedapart rear vertical members, longitudinal side members joining respective ones of the front and rear vertical members, an axle carried by the rear vertical members, large diameter wheels carried by the axle, and cooperating means on the converter frame and on the chair seat frame assembly for detachably mounting the chair structure on the wheeled converter frame to render the chair structure a wheel chair.

2. A chair according to claim 1 comprising brackets extending rearwardly from adjacent the vertically disposed edges of the chair back and having slots formed therein, and the fastener means on the chair frame vertical support members and received in the bracket slots for adjustably mounting the chair back on the vertical support membars.

3. A chair according to claim 1 comprising a generally L-shaped side support frame member joined at one end to each of the vertical chair frame members and at the other end to the chair seat frame assembly, chair sides affixed to the chair side frame members, an arm rest having at least one downwardly extending mounting element thereon for each of the chair sides, bracket means on the side members for receiving the mounting elements of the arm rests, and fastener means for adjustably clamping the arm rest mounting elements to the side member.

4. A chair according to claim 3 wherein there are at least two independently adjustable arm rests carried by each of the chair sides.

5. A chair according to claim 1 comprising a foot rest mounting member adjustably affixed on each of the front legs, foot rests pivotally attached to the respective mounting members means for adjustably fixing the respective foot rests at a predetermined angle with respect to the front legs.

6. A chair according to claim 1 comprising flanges carried adjacent the edges of the chair seat and means carried by the longitudinal members of the chair seat frame assembly and cooperating with the seat flanges to removably secure the seat to the longitudinal seat frame members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 342,927 6/86 Price 280-30 728,082 5/03 Bullock 280-30 2,509,972 5/50 Gottfried 280-30 2,630,856 3/53 Madsen 297-390 2,824,597 2/58 Lerman 280-242 2,849,051 8/ 5 8 Streeter. 2,946,602 7/60 Lee 280-250 3,037,813 6/62 Lowe 297-390 3,078,101 2/63 Reese 280-30 3,103,384 9/63 Zivi 280-30 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

A. HARRY LEVY, KENNETH H. BETTS, Examiners. 

1. A CHAIR FOR NON-AMBULATORY PERSONS COMPRISING A BASIC CHAIR STRUCTURE HAVING A CHAIR FRAME, THE CHAIR FRAME INCLUDING A PAIR OF SPACED-APART TRANSVERSE SEAT FRAME MEMBERS AND A PAIR OF SPACED-APART LONGITUDINAL SEAT FRAME MEMBERS, THE TRANSVERSE AND LONGITUDINAL SEAT FRAME MEMBERS BEING JOINED TO FORM A SEAT FRAME ASSEMBLY, AND A PAIR OF SPACED-APART GENERALLY VERTICAL CHAIR BACK SUPPORT MEMBERS JOINED TO THE SEAT FRAME ASSEMBLY, A SEAWT CARRIED BY THE SEAT FRAME ASSEMBLY, AND A BACK MOUNTED ON THE VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBERS, A PAIR OF FRONT LEG MEMBERS AND A PAIR OF BACK LEG MEMBERS, MEANS FOR DETACHABLY SECURING THE LEG MEMBERS TO THE SEAT FRAME ASSEMBLY TO RENDER THE BASIC CHAIR STRUCTURE A CONFORT CHAIR, A WHEELED CONVERTER FRAME INCLUDING A PAIR OF SPACED-APART FRONT VERTICAL MEMBERS, CASTER WHEELS CARRIED BY THE FRONT MEMBERS, TRANSVERSE MEMBER EXTENDING BETWEEN THE VERTICAL MEMBERS, A PAIR OF SPACED APART REAR VERTICAL MEMBERS, LONGITUDINAL SIDE MEMBERS JOINING RESPECTIVE ONES OF THEA FRONT AND REAR VERTICAL MEMBERS, AN AXLE CARRIED BY THE REAR VERTICAL MEMBERS, LARGE DIAMETER WHEELS CARRIED BY THE AXLE, AND COOPERATING MEANS ON THE CONVERTER FRAME AND ON THE CHAIR SEAT FRAME ASSEMBLY FOR DETACHABLY MOUNTING THE CHAIR STRUCTURE ON THE WHEELED CONVERTER FRAME TO RENDER THE CHAIR STRUCTURE A WHEEL CHAIR. 